One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975 · Milos Forman · 133 min · Drama
Fifty years haven't dulled the impact of this one. Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher deliver two of the most iconic performances in film history, locked in a battle of wills that still feels electric every time you watch it. The ensemble around them is stacked with talent, much of it unknown at the time, and Milos Forman's naturalistic approach gives the whole thing a lived-in authenticity that bigger, flashier films can't touch. Some of its views on mental health care have aged poorly, and the film occasionally leans harder on comedy than its subject matter warrants. But as a story about what happens when someone refuses to be broken by a system designed to do exactly that, it remains one of the most powerful films Hollywood has ever produced.